The lead · Oct 5
Texas Tech dismissed head volleyball coach Tony Graystone with cause on September 13, eight games into the season, and Athletics Director Kirby Hocutt’s announcement gave no reason. Associate head coach Alisa Blair took over as interim, with Mikayla Ell as interim associate head coach.
Records obtained by The Daily Toreador and reported September 28 show a team member emailed Hocutt on September 7 under the subject line Physical abuse, asking to discuss physical abuse, medical mistreatment and felony battery allegedly committed by Graystone. Hocutt replied within hours and met the sender September 9. That person’s name is redacted. The team was 6-2.
Sources The Daily Toreador · Sports Illustrated · EverythingLubbock
KAMC aired its Talking Points public affairs program Sunday with congressional candidate Tom Sell, who is running for the open 19th District seat, discussing his campaign and the pressures facing American households.
The same broadcast carried KAMC’s Grace Gates interviewing Texas Tech Board of Regents Chairman Cody Campbell on what the College Sports Act, recently passed by the U.S. Senate, will mean for student athletes. Anchor Jen Phillips also recapped Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick’s Lubbock stop, where he discussed the data centers proposed for the region. Early voting in the November 3 election begins October 19.
Sources EverythingLubbock
Texas Tech’s Karoll and Pollock each earn Big 12 weekly honors after Colorado win
The Big 12 Conference named punter Will Karoll its Special Teams Player of the Week for the third time this season and cornerback Brice Pollock its Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after Texas Tech’s 29-7 win at Colorado. Karoll averaged 55.7 yards per punt at altitude. Pollock recorded two interceptions, the second setting up John Curry’s pick-six.
Texas Tech moved up to No. 11 in the AP Top 25 and No. 9 in the Coaches Poll when rankings were released Sunday. The Red Raiders are 5-0 overall, 2-0 in Big 12 play. The October 17 homecoming game against Arizona State is set for 2:30 p.m. on FOX, the program’s fourth advance sellout.
Sources KCBD · KCBD · Texas Tech Athletics
Keep Lubbock Beautiful chairwoman Hilary Watkins named to the state board, a Lubbock first
Keep Texas Beautiful announced Sunday that Hilary Watkins, who chairs the Keep Lubbock Beautiful Advisory Committee, has been appointed to its statewide board of directors. It is the first time anyone from Lubbock has been named to that board.
Keep Texas Beautiful is a nonprofit that supports affiliates, volunteers and partners across the state on beautification, litter prevention, recycling, waste reduction and community engagement. Del Rio Mullen, the City of Lubbock staff liaison to Keep Lubbock Beautiful, said Watkins has served the local board since 2023 and has unmatched passion for seeing the community well represented.
Sources KCBD
StateTexas counties got 500,000 backlogged voter records weeks before today’s registration deadline
At least 500,000 backlogged voter registration records reached Texas county election officials after the Secretary of State’s office notified counties on September 23. The registration deadline for the November 3 election falls today.
Votebeat and The Texas Tribune reported October 1 that a software update by the vendor Deloitte in October 2025 dropped three data fields from the daily files the Department of Public Safety sends the state, and that a separate March change blocked nearly 1,000 applications filed between December and February. Christina Adkins, the state elections division director, said her office noticed missing daily files and had been assured there were no problems.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Abbott says Texas has been reimbursed $7.5 billion for border security and wants $2.5 billion more
Governor Greg Abbott announced at the Governor’s Mansion on Friday that the Department of Homeland Security has reimbursed Texas $7.5 billion for border security costs the state carried under Operation Lone Star.
Texas is seeking about $2.5 billion more from a $3 billion Justice Department fund to reach roughly $10 billion, money flowing from the State Border Security Reinforcement Fund created last year. Abbott said he wants to dedicate as much as possible to property tax relief while keeping border operations funded, and that he knows the state can do both.
Sources The Texan · Texas Scorecard
Texas agencies take Flock’s 90-day reprieve, betting Abbott restores camera funding
Dallas, Addison, New Braunfels and Johnson County have accepted 90-day payment extensions from Flock Safety, The Texas Tribune reported October 2, keeping their license plate readers running while state funding stays frozen.
Governor Greg Abbott halted that funding in late August after a Tribune investigation found the state had put at least $30 million toward more than 3,200 cameras, including a $15 million Department of Public Safety contract through the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority. Agencies may exit penalty-free after 90 days if nothing is restored. Lubbock police use the cameras, and a petition to ban the local network is circulating.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Hinojosa says she is closing on Abbott as the governor’s race moves to television
State Representative Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic nominee for governor, said in a Dallas Morning News and NBC 5 interview that aired Sunday that she has finally built the name recognition to take on Governor Greg Abbott. Early voting begins October 19.
Speaking at an ice cream shop in Murphy, northeast of Dallas, Hinojosa said Abbott has spent $39 million on paid communications against her campaign’s $3 million, including a $12 million ad claiming she voted 40 times to raise property taxes. Her lawyers sent stations cease-and-desist letters calling the ad false; Abbott’s campaign says it is accurate. Her agenda includes a $1,500 household payment and electricity rate controls.
Sources The Monitor
Trump campaigns for Paxton in Denton and attacks Talarico
President Donald Trump rallied for Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Senate campaign at Peterbilt Motors in Denton on October 1, calling him the greatest attorney general in the United States while allowing that he can be difficult.
Trump went after the Democratic nominee, state Representative James Talarico, telling the crowd that vegans do not do well in Texas, and said manufacturing wages are up by close to $4,000 since he took office. He acknowledged Senator Ted Cruz, state Senator Tan Parker and eight Texas House members from the stage. Early voting begins October 19.
Sources The Texan
U.S. & WorldMajor oil exporters hold November output steady with Brent above $100
Seven OPEC+ producers, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman, agreed Sunday to keep output unchanged through November. They meet again November 1.
Brent crude has traded above $100 a barrel since the Iran war began February 28. The Group of Seven separately said it will release 100 million barrels of oil and fuel products over coming weeks, front-loading a substantial diesel release within 20 days and spreading the remainder over four months.
Sources The Hill · PBS NewsHour
Trump names intelligence director Jay Clayton to lead a new federal Super Intelligence Force
President Donald Trump announced Sunday that Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton will lead a new federal task force, the Super Intelligence Force, created to coordinate the government’s artificial intelligence work.
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson, Pentagon Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael and Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor join him, reporting to Trump and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. The group is to coordinate federal engagement with consumers, public-interest and religious groups, critical infrastructure providers and technology companies. Data centers, the physical plant behind that computing, are the subject of an active moratorium fight in Lubbock.
Sources Fox News · The Hill · PBS NewsHour
U.S. pulls its bombers from a British air base after a suspected terror plot
The U.S. Air Force has removed all of its bombers from RAF Fairford, about 100 miles west of London, after British authorities investigated a suspected terror plot against the base. Observers saw B-1s depart Sunday.
Dozens of B-52 and B-1 bombers had been flying from Fairford. British police detained a dual British-Iranian national in central London last week, and six people were taken into custody and released on bail. Authorities have linked the plot to Tehran, which denies involvement. The Iran war that began in February is still running.
Sources The Hill · PBS NewsHour
Two dead and about 35 hurt in a mass shooting at a Georgia homecoming block party
Gunfire swept a homecoming block party in Vienna, Georgia, about 1:25 a.m. Sunday, killing two men aged 20 and 23 and wounding roughly 35 others. Deputies had been monitoring a crowd of more than 1,000.
Shots were fired at about 50 people across two locations a block apart on Pine Street in Dooly County. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Dooly County Sheriff’s Office are investigating and no arrests have been announced. Sheriff Craig Peavy asked whoever is responsible to turn themselves in. About 100 people gathered for a prayer vigil at the courthouse Sunday morning.
Sources FOX 5 Atlanta · KCBD
A former U.S. attorney will review Tennessee’s failed execution of Christa Pike
Tennessee’s attorney general’s office has retained former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton to conduct an independent review of the state Department of Correction’s conduct during the failed execution of Christa Pike, the appointment reported Sunday.
The review will determine whether the execution protocol was followed and whether further recommendations are needed to keep it lawful and effective. Pike remains alive and hospitalized in critical condition, her attorneys said Sunday. Tennessee’s prisons commissioner resigned Saturday after the second failed execution in the state since May.
Sources KCBD · PBS NewsHour
Coast Guard suspends the search for six aboard a medical flight lost off Nantucket
The Coast Guard suspended its search Sunday evening after 66 hours, following the discovery of a debris field from the missing Gulfstream G100 off Nantucket. Four Canadians and two Bermudians were aboard.
The air ambulance left Bermuda for Boston and lost contact at 2 a.m. Saturday. Crews covered 2,840 square miles with aircraft, boats and cutters, and the flight data recorder has not been recovered. Rear Admiral Matthew Lake, commander of the Coast Guard’s Northeast District, said suspending a search is not an easy decision.
Sources NBC 10 News · PBS NewsHour
CeeDee Lamb’s 17 catches carry the Cowboys past the Texans 34-30 in Houston
Dallas beat Houston 34-30 on Sunday, winning on a touchdown pass into the end zone at the end of a 74-yard drive in the final minute. Dak Prescott went 32 of 45 for 335 yards and a touchdown.
CeeDee Lamb caught 17 passes for 189 yards and moved past Drew Pearson into fourth on the Cowboys’ career receiving list at 7,914 yards. Javonte Williams ran for three touchdowns. For Houston, C.J. Stroud threw for 347 yards and Nico Collins caught seven passes for 118 yards and two scores.
Sources Dallas Cowboys
Kansas City holds off the Raiders 30-27 in Las Vegas to stay unbeaten
The Chiefs beat the Raiders 30-27 at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday to go to 4-0, dropping Las Vegas to 3-1. Patrick Mahomes completed 15 of 30 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.
Kenneth Walker III carried 22 times for 177 yards and two touchdowns, with a long run of 76 yards, and Tyquan Thornton caught five passes for 111 yards and two scores. Kirk Cousins threw for 365 yards and two touchdowns with an interception on 31 of 52 passing for Las Vegas.
Sources Pro Football Reference · Las Vegas Raiders